Walcott aims to avoid injury jinx

Theo Walcott has buried his head in the sand over England's injury curse - for fear he could be next to be struck down.

Arsenal winger Walcott is among the walking wounded Roy Hodgson will take to the European Championships on Wednesday, having already seen his squad decimated by withdrawals.

But the 23-year-old refused to dwell on any injury woes, having believed since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2008 that doing so can be a jinx in itself. He said: "We try not to think about these injuries because ever since I had my shoulder operation, if I tend to think about injuries then I'll get injured myself."

He added: "So I think the most important thing is everyone trusts each other and trains well."

The latest injury crisis sparked a backlash on Sunday night after new England boss Hodgson was deemed to have snubbed Rio Ferdinand by replacing broken-jaw victim Gary Cahill with rookie defender Martin Kelly.

Ferdinand's representative Jamie Moralee claimed the treatment of his client was "nothing short of disgraceful" and showed a "total lack of respect" from Hodgson.